If you tend to take what you get, you may not know there’s a whole world of consumer protection out there beyond returning ill-fitting clothes to your department store of choice. When you purchase something, like a car or a television set, you expect it to work as intended — and not to spontaneously combust and cause serious injuries or light your house on fire.
You may not know what product liability law is, if a retailer can be held liable for defective products, or even what to do if you have purchased a defective product. If you have been injured as a result of a dangerous or defective product, you may be legally entitled to compensation. Find answers to our most frequently asked questions about product liability law so you can protect yourself and your family.
Can you sue a complaint for defective product?
You can sue a complaint for a defective product when it leads to injury or damage because it does not work as expected, has insufficient warnings or instructions, or is dangerous because of a flaw in the original design of the product. When these products do not work as the consumer should be able to expect and instead cause harm, the consumer has the right to sue a complaint for defective products to recover financial compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, property damage, wrongful death, lost wages, and other issues directly related to being injured by the product.
What is product liability law?
Product liability law is what encompasses injuries incurred by dangerous or defective products and who should be held accountable for resulting consumer injuries. Product liability laws lay almost strictly with individual states and have very little federal oversight. These laws largely hold the view that anyone, from maker to seller, involved in allowing a dangerous product to make its way into the buyer’s hands should be held accountable.
Product liability laws generally involve strict liability (you do not have to prove negligence in the chain of distribution), breach of warranty, or — like many other situations in which injury occurs — negligence, in which the person you consider at fault was acting negligently or could reasonably someone could be injured as a result of their product, action, or inaction.
Essentially, a product must meet the expectations of the consumer, such that when it is used correctly and appropriate warnings and instructions given, the consumer can expect the product to function as they anticipate and not cause harm or damage.
What kinds of defective and dangerous product complaints are available to me?
To successfully sue a complaint for a defective product, you can expect to have to prove the product was flawed and defective in such a way as to make the product dangerous and lead to injury or damage.
There are three main types of defective product liability complaints:
- design defects,
- manufacturing defects, and
- marketing defects.
When a fundamental problem in the actual creation and design of the product makes it dangerous, this is a design defect. Manufacturing defects occur when the product is being made or built to go to market, while marketing defects refer to insufficient warnings, lack of or inaccurate labeling make the product dangerous.
Who is liable if I’m injured by a defective product?
If you are injured by a defective product, the entire chain, from production and manufacturing through sales (called the “chain of distribution”) can be held liable for your injury. Tracking down the entire chain of distribution involved in designing, manufacturing, delivering, and selling your exploding lamp (or any product in question) might feel like a lot of work, but it is an essential part of forming a solid case.
Additionally, each of these parts of the chain may contain more than one part. To be certain you have included all of the potentially liable companies or people, you have to find all the pertinent parties — including not only those directly responsible for the entire finished product, but the parts that make up the product that are themselves defective.
Take the exploding lamp. You read the manual, plugged it into an outlet with another lamp plugged in, and the lamp promptly caught fire, causing considerable damage to your home and seriously injuring you. While the entire lamp might be a problem (perhaps there is a flaw in the design), there could also be a specific part that is defective, so that it isn’t the lamp itself, per se, but a particular piece that is essential to the function of the lamp. In this instance, you should include not only the manufacturer of the lamp itself, but also the manufacturer of the piece that actually made the lamp explode when plugged in with something else.
Can a retailer be held liable for defective products?
Certainly retailers can be held liable for defective products. Perhaps they didn’t make and ship the product, but they did put the dangerous item on a shelf, fund the marketing of the product, and put it into the hands of consumers. Even if they ultimately hold no responsibility beyond putting it onto their shelves, and every other lamp they’ve ever sold has worked perfectly, they are still part of the chain of distribution. They still sold the product, and so the retailer can still be held liable for defective products.
What happens if the product is used or second hand?
When you start considering second-hand goods or used products, the law is still evolving to deal with such cases. The product, the particular defect, and the state you live in all impact this considerably.
Ultimately although it is possible to claim a suit for a second-hand defective product, it is unlikely you will be bringing that suit against the little old lady holding the garage sale next door from whom you got the lamp. However, when purchasing through a business, like a used appliance store, there may be repercussions for these types of companies. You will, however, look into the original manufacturers and designers of the product.
What if I didn’t buy or even use the product?
In fact, when a person is injured by a defective product, they do not necessarily have to be the individual who actually purchased the product. Furthermore, even if you did not actually use the product, but it injured you, you may be entitled to compensation. Basically, if you are a foreseeable user of the product and came to harm (physically or financially) by using it or because of its use, you may be able to recover damages.
Can you sue for injury that is financial rather than physical?
Dangerous or defective products can cause not only physical injuries, but damage to property (financial injury) as well. Regardless of which type of injury you have suffered, a product injury lawyer can help you recover financial damages. Of course, the average claim for a defective product suit increases dramatically when a physical injury is involved, largely because it can impact so many more aspects of your life.
How can an injury lawyer help me with dangerous or defective product injuries?
Working with one of our Kansas injury lawyers to recover damages from a defective product can make the process considerably easier. An injury lawyer can help you trace the chain of distribution, help you determine a fair settlement for your injuries, and prepare to go to court if the companies in question are unwilling to settle. A product liability attorney will know the exact laws for your state, the best ways to gather evidence, and how much your claim is worth.
If you have been injured by a defective product, it’s time to call a lawyer. Our Kansas attorneys deliver dollars for injured clients. We’re here to work for you so you can work on recovery. If you’re ready to get started with a free consultation, call our offices at (866)730-0589 or visit our website at www.kansasinjuryrecovery.com to see what your case could be worth.
